Metropolis – LexCorps

Standing on the balcony of penthouse of the tallest building Metropolis skyline, Alexander Schmidt smiled triumphantly as he read the latest progress report form the deep sea salvage team which he had dispatched several days ago. Using the information retrieved from SHIELD concerning the whereabouts of the retrieval of Super Soldiers body, in mere seconds his formidable intellect had extrapolated the exact location of the his most most loyal soldiers final resting place, Colonel Johann Metzler.

His calculations deduced that the internal battery would preserve the brain, although the body was obsolete, at the time it was a remarkable feat of engineering and its power rivalled even the supposedly superior Super Soldier, however that was then and now with the new read outs gathered from SHIELD the Captain was stronger than ever. No matter, technology has also improved. With that he looked over at the blue prints retrieved from their cybernetics division specifically for their urban pacification program prototypes, he was sure that Bob Morton wouldn't mind, not if he wanted to keep his job. To the task at hand, his new Soldier will be faster, stronger, more resilient even to blows from the likes of Super Soldier and his heat vision.

Section 6 – Operation Rebirth

Karen was never overly fond of doctors, in fact she avoided them whenever possible, at present she was trying to keep herself calm as various doctors from various fields examined her, poked and prodded, monitored her vitals, took her measurements, recorded her exact shade of hair, eye and skin colour. To her, her eyes were blue, not grey-blue, just blue, what difference did it make if they were grey blue or not? She wondered as she was brought in to the main lab, things didn't get any easier, the various bodies of personnel scurrying around the place in their white coats, they all looked like doctors, except for two people dressed in military attire. The one with the eye patch she knew from her introduce from her C.O. As Bruce Wilson, the director of SHIELD, the ones in charge of this trial, the man next to him she knew all to well, Captain Clark Kent aka Super Soldier, a legend returned from the dead and now here she was, possibly trying to emulate his success. It was a daunting idea to say the least.

She was then escorted to her 'chamber' as it was called during the briefing, as the 'door' closed she took a deep breath, despite the entire thing being made out of Titan glass, it was hard not to think of it as a transparent coffin. "Relax, everything is going to be fine" she heard one of the nurses say as the metal clamps came into place. Looking out towards the room, she saw Doctor David Banner, playing up the guests in attendance explaining the procedure. "Like Doctor Ernestine original trial, we will begin with several injections of the formula into the major organs" he spoke as the needles pierced her skin, and the translucent tubes show the blue tinted formula being pumped into her body. "Next, we then saturate the subjects bodies with a Vita-ray treatment" on cue the the glass chambers darkened, adjusting to the light emitted from inside the chambers, this was to ensure complete cellular saturation and to help metabolise the formula.

The light was blindingly bright no matter how tight she closed her eyes, several minutes in she heard the others scream before letting out her own, her muscles pulsated, expanding rapidly and then contracting immediately afterwards. She felt warm then cold, her arms and legs felt heavy and it became hard for her to breathe.

"Doctor get them the hell out of there!" she heard someone scream, before the door of her chamber was ripped from its hinges, her restrains torn off as she fell forward. The next thing she knew she was in the infirmary, she found herself attached to a heart monitor. . She looked around the room, and saw 4 empty beds, which she hoped meant that the others were OK.

She got up and made her way over to the sink, her legs felt weak as she stood she soon found her strength. Turning the tap for the cold water, she splashed someone her face to help her wake up. She grabbed a near by towel and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes widened in shock as she took in her new appearance, her once dark hair had now become a golden blonde and her eyes were a brighter shade of blue, the likes of which she had never thought possible. Looking down she found that she had acquired sufficiently more muscle mass, not to the extent of a body builder more of a figure athlete, her bust had also grown larger and seemed to be perkier, her hips also seemed to be wider but were fitting to her new physique. This was not covered in the briefing. She thought as she heard the door open, with a nurse, Doctor Banner and Director Wilson present.

Metropolis – Section 6 testing – Specimen Test area – Subject Karen Cage

It has been 5 days since the trial, 5 days since she was told that she was the only test subject who was either not dead or horribly crippled. She wondered what their families would be told, would they even be given a proper military burial. In that time she had come to terms with the changes and SHIELD had provided her with new clothing since her current wardrobe would not have fit.

At the present moment, she was dressed in trainers, dark grey shorts and a grey tank top, on several places on her body were small electronic monitors which recorded and transmitted the information from her body to the doctors sitting somewhere else in the building for dissection. She approached the next test station, one designed to monitor punching power, she had used this and all of the other test stations before, prior to the trial. The doctors had told her that this was get a baseline of physical abilities so that they could accurately gauge her rate of improvement.

So far they all seemed to be somewhat disappointed with the results, from what she gathered the figures gathered fall far below their main target, the records sets by Clark Kent. Doctor Banner was the one to break the news to her,

"Karen, there is no easy way to say this but.. we failed"

"Failed how? I am stronger than I've ever been" defiantly asked Karen as she looked across the table to Doctor Banner, who currently looked like he was burst into tears, his eyes blood shot, with his gaunt face, it was clear for anyone that he hadn't been sleeping or eating for quite some time, but that may have been a side effect from his medication which she seen him taking repeatedly throughout the last few days.

"That's true, but you're not at Super Soldiers levels" responded Banner as he took out his container of pills before popping two of them. "Other than strength, endurance and durability you have yet to display any of his other powers. We feel that you may never develop those abilities which was the entire point of the program."

"Well what am I suppose to do now Doctor?" Karens tone was laced with anger and frustration, her hands clenched tightly as she looked into Banners eyes.

"Its been agreed that with your enhanced physical strength, you would not be suited for normal service and will be reporting to SHIELD, your orientation starts on Monday" with that Banner left examination room one. He braced himself against the wall with the right hand as he rubbed his eyes with the other. He was soo tired, and the medication made it difficult to sleep.

Metropolis – LexCorps Cybernetics Lab 6

3 days prior, the deep sea salvage team that Schmidt had dispatched returned with their prize, the inert and rusted body of the once formidable Colonel Johann Metzger. The once pristine shell composed of Panzer metal, had rusted over the many decades of submergence in the salt water of the ocean, coral had also begin to form around the body.

Having designed and overseen the original construction of his soldiers mechanical body, Schmidt himself carried out the transplantation of the brain module. A mechanical counter part to the hosts original brain, like the body, it too was obsolete. The contents of which would be transferred into a new state of the art model, while the transference occurred the new body was brought out from storage.

Like the original it possessed a humanoid design, however it differed in that it was smaller, being approximately 6'4" in height but still retained the same level of density and weight. It was composed of an advanced endo-skeleton, with a Kreetonite heart, auxiliary hydrogen fuel cells, and surrounded with the new 'Flex-skin", a flexible substance that would return some of the sensations lost to Johann, temperature sensations, pleasure and pain should he desire though these can be switched off for combat purposes.

Schmidt placed the new brain module into its new body, the technicians in the lab monitored the robots signals to make sure that everything was operational. Several large mechanized droids stood guard, their heavy fire-power aimed directly at it. As the Kreetonite radiation seeped through the robots body, the operating system came online. The optic sensors began to admit an emerald glow as the robotic beasts tore through the reinforced restraints like they were tissue paper.

"Wo bin ich?" the robots audio emitters replicating the Colonels original voice, in the past he could only speak with a mechanical auto tone. In surprise he raised his hand to his throat. He could feel the smooth and cold sensations of his synthetic skin, he recoiled slightly as he brought his hand to his face and an appraised his hand in awe, no longer limited to the clunky mechanical pincers now he possessed fully formed hands, 4 fingers and an opposable thumb.

"Sie sind unter Freundan Colonel" replied Alexander Schmidt as he emerged from behind the guardian drones, his mask removed showing his sickeningly green skull, a twisted smile outlined on his face. "If you please switch your audio output to English so as to put the underlings fears to rest."

"As you wish" replied Johann as he walked towards his commanding officer, his eyes darting around the room as he was bombarded with new information gathered by his optic sensors and the on-board analysis program.

"It is good to you see you again mien friend" greeted Alexander as he brought his arm up to his soldiers shoulders. "We have much to discuss and a whole new world to bend to our will, but first lets get you caught up on the passed few decades of history."

"No need, this bodies internet connection has allowed me to download to and assimilate all the relevant history including the knowledge that Super Soldier still lives" his vocal emissions expressing his anger with a low growl as his metallic fists tightened. It had been no secret that Johann despised the Captain and everything he stood for.

"In time you shall crush the Captain under your boot" encouraged Schmidt as he moved around to the Colonels left. "In time"

A/N: Please review, also forgive me for the poor translation of the German sentences. Thanks.